JIM CROW’S DESPERATE CORRUPTION OF THE BLACK MAN
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They were able to maintain their myth of superiority for so long because an individual’s intelligence is focused on adapting to their environment. So when Africans were taken away from their environment and brought to this strange land, naturally we seemed out of place and clueless - so they laughed at us, pointing to our disorientation as stupid.
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But when they began to recognize our true intelligence while we were in bondage, they reached into their arsenal and began to utilize a tactic that seems to come so natural to them, and they started doing to our culture as a whole, what they’re currently doing to President Obama as an individual - they engaged in obstructionism, by making it a crime to teach a Black person to read.
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Thereafter, their worst fears were confirmed when slaves began to escape and educate themselves. Frederick Douglass was a case in point. In spite of being deprived of the great academies of learn of his time, Frederick Douglass escaped from bondage, educated himself, and went on to become one of the great writers, orators, and brilliant intellectuals of his time. He rubbed shoulders with presidents and kings, and became a valued advisor to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, and to other presidents thereafter.
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In 1852 - nine years BEFORE the Civil War; back when even "nice" White folks would lynch a Black man if given sufficient cause - when asked what he thought of the nation’s Independence Day celebrations, he came straight from the shoulder, and without any hesitation or equivocation. He said, "Your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him [the slave], mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages!"
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So what we have in Douglass is a handsome, suave, and debonair Black man, living in pre-Civil War America, yet, had the knowledge and intellect to command enough respect to live life the way he saw fit. He counseled the President of the United States, he 'dated' who he felt like 'dating' - Black or White - because, since you are what you think, Douglass considered his brothers and sisters all those who THOUGHT like him - and he faced down a White supremacist society eyeball-to-eyeball without flinchin’ an eyelash, and he had no "posse," and no "crew." It was just Douglass, his manhood, his intellect, and the fierce determination in his eye - but obviously, that was enough.
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That is the Black man that conservatives fear, and are desperately trying to contain with all of their obstructionism, corruption, and brutality; and that is the Black man that every Black parent should be just as desperately trying to forge in every Black child in America. For, when you look at the intelligence, knowledge, and fierce determination in Douglass’ eyes, you’re looking into eyes that will look upon freedom, justice, and equality.
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But we’ve allowed Jim Crow to corrupt our souls, first, through physical bondage during slavery, and later, through his Jim Crow laws that beat down our character, and convinced us that we were less than who we are. He’s managed to turn many of us into clowns, into caricatures of manhood. As a result, far too many of our young Black men are all swagger, and no substance, where Douglass was all substance, and no swagger. That, is what we must strive to return to, because that, is who we truly are.
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A true Black man is strong, focused, and resolute like Douglass - not saggin’, swaggerin’, illiterates struttin’ around flaunting fleeting wealth and spewing vulgar nursery rhymes that celebrates the murder of his own, and denigrate the very womb of his culture. No, that’s not manhood - that’s the manipulation of Jim Crow pulling the strings of ladder-day Steppin’ Fetcits, stupidly masquerading as virile, while desperately in search of manhood.
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But there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with being a rapper - Black people have always gravitated toward the arts. Oscar Brown Jr. and Gil Scott Heron were rappers, but they were rappers because they had something to say. They were educators in the tradition of Frederick Douglass and the ancient griots of West Africa . . .
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So rap on young brother, but rap about substance. Carry a message that glorifies our people, that honor our Black women, and that celebrates the strength of character that allowed us to defeat the most severe adversity, an adversity that’s made us more, rather than less. Celebrate your people with dignity, pride, and intelligence. You’re always talkin’ about "bitches" and "hoes" - don’t allow yourself to become a hoe for Jim Crow. The bling ain’t worth it - and Black people, we must stop enriching those who think it is.
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HOWLING WINDS
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As I watched my son, dapper as they come, walk down our walkway and into manhood,
what I remember most was the howling winds. I'd seen such winds before, but never like this - my old foe was pulling up trees by the roots,
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So I watched, but I watched alone.
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As the winds raged on and the mighty palms bowed, a single leaf from our Winter-bare ficus tree
held tough against the ferocious storm. It fought valiantly against the angry gale, as though hanging tough Just to witness the changing of the guard,
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So I stood, but I stood alone.
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Like that solitary leaf, all my life I've fought the ferocious winds, and now they’ve returned, this mighty foe, poised to seize the hopes and dreams of my only son,
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So I cringed, but I cringed alone.
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Then, posterity glanced back, squared its shoulders, and beat back hopelessness as it
trudged through fields of ivy. Then it spread its wings and rode those howling winds
over yonder mountaintop,
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So I wept, but I wept with a crowd . . .
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I NOW STAND FIRM
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| Eric Wattree, Jr. |
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I stand free to look upon the eyes of other men, reflecting dignity over sorrow, and accomplishment over pain; I stand with a burning passion, fueled by the very flame that forged ancestral shackles, with a deep sense of pride and a pride that flows deep.
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I now stand erect. The steel that once degraded my father, that chained him in bondage to this bitter Earth, now reinforce my character, making me more, rather than less; and the blood and sweat that once drenched his brow, now rage with resolve and a sense of purpose within my burning breast.
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I now stand as a new being - neither simply African, nor simply American, but a hybrid forced to transcend the sum of my parts; no longer simply African, since being torn away from the African motherland to suffer and toil in the fields of America, and more than simply American, after being FORCED to be more than simply American just to survive within the bowels of this prosperous land.
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Thus, I stand now armed - armed with the wisdom of deprivation, the courage of my conviction, and a deep conviction of my courage; and fortified - with the confidence of a survivor, the empowerment of knowledge, and a ravishing hunger for greatness.
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I now stand the product of love, struggle, and sacrifice; a witness to man's inhumanity to man, and a monument to the hopes and dreams of a million slaves.
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I now stand embraced by my creator, as God now smiles upon my people.
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Yes, I Now Stand Firm.
Firm, Black, and Free.
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ATTENTION BIGOTS!
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Don't you think for a moment that you're jumping up-and-down about Obama's incompetence is fooling anybody in America but yourself, as evidenced by the last election. We all know what's going on - including many White people. You're in absolute misery, and we're taking great pleasure in watching your agony, because we know why you're ACTUALLY screaming. You're not screaming over Obama's alleged corruption or incompetence; you're screaming in agony over having the hell beat out of you with your own bat, and it's an absolutely exhilarating thing to watch.
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Consider this a teaching moment, Professor Henschel, and take special note of the bludgeoning below. You're severely out-classed - not because you're White, but because you're White and failed to prepare yourself for reality. It's a new day, and what’s actually causing you so much distress is having to witness Jim Crow's dying gasp.
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Consider this a teaching moment, Professor Henschel, and take special note of the bludgeoning below. You're severely out-classed - not because you're White, but because you're White and failed to prepare yourself for reality. It's a new day, and what’s actually causing you so much distress is having to witness Jim Crow's dying gasp.
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Eric L. Wattree
Http://wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.